Man faces sex trafficking charge in disappearance of Medfield girl

Friday

Sep 13, 2013 at 6:00 AMSep 13, 2013 at 7:04 PM

THE BOSTON GLOBE

A 30-year-old Missouri man is facing a sex trafficking charge in the 2½-day disappearance of a 17-year-old girl from Medfield.

Stephen Ardrey of Springfield, Mo., who made an initial appearance in federal court in Providence this afternoon, also faces a charge of transporting a minor with intent to commit criminal sexual activity.

Brittany Thompson disappeared after leaving the Medfield Public Library on Monday afternoon and wasn't found until Thursday morning when she and a man were spotted in Coventry, R.I.

“The case against the defendant is very strong,” Assistant US Attorney Adi Goldstein said today in court.

Goldstein said Ardrey had a criminal record that included prior sex offenses. The defense did not seek bail. US District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan did not set a further hearing.

Sullivan agreed to seal the law enforcement affidavit supporting the charges, meaning no further details were available publicly about Ardrey's alleged motive and plans, where the two went, and what they did.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said Ardrey was the man who walked out of the library with Thompson on Monday, triggering a massive search for the 17-year-old girl, and was the man found walking with her in Coventry Thursday.

Thompson and the man were spotted at 6:48 a.m. Thursday by a passerby in Coventry who recognized them from news reports, police said. The passerby contacted police, who responded to the scene and took them, without incident, to the Coventry station for questioning.

“This individual’s quick response by notifying law enforcement was paramount to putting an end to the anguish the victim’s family was experiencing not knowing their daughter’s whereabouts. By smartly alerting law enforcement, he furthered the investigation which led to the arrest and detention of the defendant,” Rhode Island US Attorney Peter F. Neronha said in a statement.f

Maureen Thompson, Brittany's mother, said this week that her daughter is “not emotionally a 17-year-old” and finds it easier to chat with people on the Internet than making friends.

Thompson's parents drove to Coventry, about 50 miles away, after learning their daughter had been found. In an interview with Providence station WJAR-TV Channel 10 on Thursday, Michael Thompson, Brittany's father, said his daughter “seems to be in very good condition, very good spirits. She's doing well.”

Coventry police were being assisted by the US Department of Homeland Security, the Massachusetts State Police, and the West Greenwich, R.I., police.

Police searched a West Greenwich motel Thursday where Thompson and the man are believed to have stayed.

The discovery of the pair ended an agonizing vigil in Medfield, where residents had been shaken by surveillance images that showed Thompson leaving the library with a man wearing a black T-shirt that read “Sons of Anarchy” and “Fear the Reaper.”